The present invention relates generally to display and storage devices, and more particularly, is directed to jewelry pads for storing and displaying items of jewelry.
In the past, jewelry has been displayed on pads in trays. The pads have been made from plastic, cardboard or foam rubber, and are usually covered with some kind of fabric or flocking to give a plush look for the aesthetic demands of jewelry display, with a layer of foam under the flocking or fabric.
However, these various pads have basic drawbacks. Specifically, plastic and cardboard pads tend to fall out of the trays, while foam rubber pads eventually lost memory from long term pressure. All of these pads became marred, dirty, ugly and eventually have to be replaced.
In the past, jewelry was attached to these pads in the following ways. Post earrings required that a hole be produced in the pad (either in production or by the end user). The earring back would then have to be removed from the earring. The pad would have to be removed from the tray and the earring inserted through the hole in the pad, and thereafter, the back of the earring replaced on the earring behind the pad. Then, the pad with the jewelry could be returned to the tray.
Clip and omega back earrings required a special flap for earrings to be clipped onto it. This required a special tray and post earrings could not be displayed on the same tray as clip earrings. Alternatively, cut-outs in a cardboard or plastic pad would allow the earrings to clip onto the pad in the same tray as the clip earrings, but this added to the cost of labor and detracted greatly from the aesthetic appeal of the presentation.
Pendants and charms have been attached to the above described pads using a separate device, namely, a wire twist pin or unshaped pin. This, however, posed many problems. First, the jewelry was difficult to center on the pad, that is, knowing where to stick the pin. Secondly, removing and replacing the pins to show the jewelry to customers soon ruined the surface of the pad. Third, it is very time consuming to place the jewelry on a pin, and then place the pin on the pad to display the jewelry, while performing the reverse order for removing the jewelry for a customer. This may be performed a dozen times in one day for just one item of jewelry on one pad in a busy store. The disadvantages here are tremendous (not to mention the bloody finger tips and ruined manicures these pins cause daily).
With the above in mind, a conventional jewelry tray includes a plurality of, for example, twelve, shallow closed-bottom recesses, with a cushioned pad held in each recess, each cushioned pad being adapted to hold a jewelry item. For example, in one instance, the posts of earrings or the like can be inserted through the pads with the posts being held at the bottom of the pads by earring backs.
However, this is disadvantageous for a number of reasons. First, in order to remove the earring, it is necessary to remove the pad from the tray, and then remove the earring back. This becomes time-consuming at the point of sale, particularly when a customer is trying on numerous pairs of earrings. Second, the posts of the earrings generally must puncture the pads in order to be inserted therethrough. This sometimes is difficult, and after many punctures, may detract from the appearance of the pad.
In another instance, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,456 to Ovadia et al, each jewelry pad is formed by an inner layer of plastic, such as styrene, and an outer flocked layer overlying the inner layer to provide a rich look thereto. Earring support mounts in the form of hemispherical or rounded recesses are blow molded into the inner plastic layer for gripping earring posts inserted therein. However, the upper open ends of the hemispherical recesses are covered by the outer flocked layer, and are not normally visible during use. Therefore, the hemispherical recesses must be located by trial and error, and thereby, the outer flocked layer may have many pin holes punched therein by the earring posts. This detracts from the appearance of the pad after many punctures. More importantly, the earring posts are only gripped by a thin layer of plastic at a hole in the bottom of each hemispherical recess through which the earring posts are inserted. The hemispherical recesses could not be used to frictionally hold a jewelry item since the inclined walls thereof would apply a biasing force to force the jewelry item out of the hemispherical recess. In any event, the hemispherical recesses are not open at the upper surface of the jewelry pad, since they are covered by the flocked layer.
This patent also discloses blow molded chain depressions having slots therein at one edge and at the corners for supporting necklace chains. The flexibility of the plastic allows the chain to be gripped. However, the patent again specifically provides the outer flocking layer in covering relation to the slots, specifically to conceal the slots from view, as stated at column 3, lines 51-53. The reason that the slots are concealed is recited as providing a more aesthetically pleasing pad appearance. However, by covering the slots, it makes it more difficult to use the same. Further, the slots can only be provided at the corners or edges of the jewelry pad.
Further, the jewelry pad of this patent is more difficult and costly to construct since the jewelry pad is formed from two separate pieces, namely a molded plastic inner layer and an outer flocked layer overlying the inner layer.
In still another instance, the planar upper surfaces of the pads may be provided with rectangular openings through which a ring can be inserted and held therein. However, in such case, only the planar upper surface is used for gripping the rings, which does not provide a good gripping action. Alternatively, a foam material is placed beneath each opening to better grip the rings. However, this adds to the cost and complexity of the jewelry pad.